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<title>Debugging with GDB: Checkpoint/Restart</title>

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<a name="Checkpoint_002fRestart"></a>
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<hr>
<a name="Setting-a-Bookmark-to-Return-to-Later"></a>
<h3 class="section">4.12 Setting a <em>Bookmark</em> to Return to Later</h3>

<a name="index-checkpoint"></a>
<a name="index-restart"></a>
<a name="index-bookmark"></a>
<a name="index-snapshot-of-a-process"></a>
<a name="index-rewind-program-state"></a>

<p>On certain operating systems<a name="DOCF3" href="#FOOT3"><sup>3</sup></a>, <small>GDB</small> is able to save a <em>snapshot</em> of a
program&rsquo;s state, called a <em>checkpoint</em>, and come back to it
later.
</p>
<p>Returning to a checkpoint effectively undoes everything that has
happened in the program since the <code>checkpoint</code> was saved.  This
includes changes in memory, registers, and even (within some limits)
system state.  Effectively, it is like going back in time to the
moment when the checkpoint was saved.
</p>
<p>Thus, if you&rsquo;re stepping thru a program and you think you&rsquo;re 
getting close to the point where things go wrong, you can save
a checkpoint.  Then, if you accidentally go too far and miss
the critical statement, instead of having to restart your program
from the beginning, you can just go back to the checkpoint and
start again from there.
</p>
<p>This can be especially useful if it takes a lot of time or 
steps to reach the point where you think the bug occurs.  
</p>
<p>To use the <code>checkpoint</code>/<code>restart</code> method of debugging:
</p>
<dl compact="compact">
<dd><a name="index-checkpoint-1"></a>
</dd>
<dt><code>checkpoint</code></dt>
<dd><p>Save a snapshot of the debugged program&rsquo;s current execution state.
The <code>checkpoint</code> command takes no arguments, but each checkpoint
is assigned a small integer id, similar to a breakpoint id.
</p>
<a name="index-info-checkpoints"></a>
</dd>
<dt><code>info checkpoints</code></dt>
<dd><p>List the checkpoints that have been saved in the current debugging
session.  For each checkpoint, the following information will be
listed:
</p>
<dl compact="compact">
<dt><code>Checkpoint ID</code></dt>
<dt><code>Process ID</code></dt>
<dt><code>Code Address</code></dt>
<dt><code>Source line, or label</code></dt>
</dl>

<a name="index-restart-checkpoint_002did"></a>
</dd>
<dt><code>restart <var>checkpoint-id</var></code></dt>
<dd><p>Restore the program state that was saved as checkpoint number
<var>checkpoint-id</var>.  All program variables, registers, stack frames
etc.  will be returned to the values that they had when the checkpoint
was saved.  In essence, gdb will &ldquo;wind back the clock&rdquo; to the point
in time when the checkpoint was saved.
</p>
<p>Note that breakpoints, <small>GDB</small> variables, command history etc.
are not affected by restoring a checkpoint.  In general, a checkpoint
only restores things that reside in the program being debugged, not in
the debugger.
</p>
<a name="index-delete-checkpoint-checkpoint_002did"></a>
</dd>
<dt><code>delete checkpoint <var>checkpoint-id</var></code></dt>
<dd><p>Delete the previously-saved checkpoint identified by <var>checkpoint-id</var>.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>

<p>Returning to a previously saved checkpoint will restore the user state
of the program being debugged, plus a significant subset of the system
(OS) state, including file pointers.  It won&rsquo;t &ldquo;un-write&rdquo; data from
a file, but it will rewind the file pointer to the previous location,
so that the previously written data can be overwritten.  For files
opened in read mode, the pointer will also be restored so that the
previously read data can be read again.
</p>
<p>Of course, characters that have been sent to a printer (or other
external device) cannot be &ldquo;snatched back&rdquo;, and characters received
from eg. a serial device can be removed from internal program buffers,
but they cannot be &ldquo;pushed back&rdquo; into the serial pipeline, ready to
be received again.  Similarly, the actual contents of files that have
been changed cannot be restored (at this time).
</p>
<p>However, within those constraints, you actually can &ldquo;rewind&rdquo; your
program to a previously saved point in time, and begin debugging it
again &mdash; and you can change the course of events so as to debug a
different execution path this time.
</p>
<a name="index-checkpoints-and-process-id"></a>
<p>Finally, there is one bit of internal program state that will be
different when you return to a checkpoint &mdash; the program&rsquo;s process
id.  Each checkpoint will have a unique process id (or <var>pid</var>), 
and each will be different from the program&rsquo;s original <var>pid</var>.
If your program has saved a local copy of its process id, this could
potentially pose a problem.
</p>
<a name="A-Non_002dobvious-Benefit-of-Using-Checkpoints"></a>
<h4 class="subsection">4.12.1 A Non-obvious Benefit of Using Checkpoints</h4>

<p>On some systems such as <small>GNU</small>/Linux, address space randomization
is performed on new processes for security reasons.  This makes it 
difficult or impossible to set a breakpoint, or watchpoint, on an
absolute address if you have to restart the program, since the 
absolute location of a symbol will change from one execution to the
next.
</p>
<p>A checkpoint, however, is an <em>identical</em> copy of a process. 
Therefore if you create a checkpoint at (eg.) the start of main, 
and simply return to that checkpoint instead of restarting the 
process, you can avoid the effects of address randomization and
your symbols will all stay in the same place.
</p>
<div class="footnote">
<hr>
<h4 class="footnotes-heading">Footnotes</h4>

<h3><a name="FOOT3" href="#DOCF3">(3)</a></h3>
<p>Currently, only
<small>GNU</small>/Linux.</p>
</div>
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